Hear Me Roar
by Awinters25 - TeamAngst
Summary: Not every day in the Circle Tower is boring. Some days, it's actually fun. (One shot)


**A/N:** This is a response to the **DAWC** (Dragon Age Writers' Corner) 'Challenges and Prompts' forum. karebear wanted to challenge herself to write a happy Circle Tower story and I loved the idea so much that I decided to give it a shot. (It still talks about the threat of Templars and their excessive punishments, but it never gets too far off track.)

The story is going to use Katrien Surana, my elf mage. She will be a side character in my Fifth Blight story, "The Moment We Come Alive", as well as all sequels that will follow. I also included my Amell mage, Malik, and am glad I did so. He's wonderful.I had so much fun using Mr. Wiggums as a starting point for this one shot since Anders was so attached to that damned cat. I feel like it gave a little more depth to the tale considering what happens to poor Mr. Wiggums.

I plan on doing a few of these one shots prompts every week or so. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to PM me or comment with them! I'd appreciate any plot bunnies you think up. I love a challenge.

* * *

"I did it."

The voice drew Katrien Surana's silver-blue eyes from the pages of the book in her hands. She had been intent on learning more about primal magic before the interruption and figuring she was going to be roped into some kind of prank (it was always _something_ with Anders), closed the dusty tome and set it on the mattress. She then met the amber eyes of a young man that could barely contain his excitement. He was standing beside her bunk with his dark blonde hair pulled into a ponytail, an expectant expression on his face.

"Did what?" Katrien asked, raising a dark eyebrow at the way he smirked up at her. The look on his face usually lead to one of two places: trouble with the Senior Enchanters or trouble with the Templars. Neither was a risk she wanted to take. Things were going so _well _for them.

Anders gave her a meaningful look as if she were supposed to understand what he was trying to tell her. She made a disgruntled face which only caused him to smile wider.

"Think about it." He pressed, not giving her any hints to what he had done.

With a sigh, Katrien recounted the previous night's conversation. He had floated some ideas by her for things he could do to different people in Kinloch Hold. Anders loved to make his own fun which usually got him in a lot of trouble. The punishments never deterred him the way the Templars hoped though. What was on that stupid list again?

Setting fire to the Knight-Commander's skirts? No, Mal did that last year and Greagoir was too smart to fall for that _twice_. Replacing Senior Enchanter Wynne's warmth balm with itching cream? She considered it for a moment until she realized that Anders wouldn't do that. He went to see Wynne more often than not to heal the especially bad punishments he received. He wouldn't jeopardize his own healing nor that of the other apprentices just for a laugh. Enchanting Mr. Wiggums with a spell? Katrien froze at that thought.

Her eyes widened as she figured out why he was so fucking _happy_. "You didn't."

Anders knew she had figured out because all he did was smile. It _irritated_ her that he could be so blasé about it.

Sliding off of the bunk (she always slept on the top one), Katrien landed beside him without a sound. It was something she did without trying. Anders always said it was because she was an elf and elves were _sneaky_. She always ignored him when he made comments like that.

"You cast a spell on the _mouser_?" She hissed at him under her breath so the other apprentices wouldn't overhear them. She didn't need someone running off to the Templars about this. Odds are they had already guessed who was responsible. "Are you _insane_? They're going to know it was you."

Anders shrugged at her words, but the smile was gone. "They'll have their suspicions, but they won't _know_. Not unless you tell them."

His statement doused her anger. "I wouldn't do that."

"I know." Anders said, that playful smile appearing on his face once more. He always seemed to be in a good mood. Katrien knew the truth though. He hated how the Templars treated the apprentices. It's why he ran away so much. Anders reached out to ruffle her long white hair affectionately. She was much shorter than he was so it didn't take much effect on his part to do it. "But if they do come asking questions, can you just tell Greagoir that I was in the dorms with you the whole time? Studying?"

Katrien glared up at him, trying to ignore the smile tugging at her lips. "You want me to _lie_ to the Knight-Commander?"

"It wouldn't be the first time." Anders reminded her with a wink.

She wanted to roll her eyes, but before she could make the movement, the door to the dormitory burst open revealing a boy the same age as Anders. His black hair was mussed and falling in his face. His gray eyes darted between the two mages standing next to one another with a look of bewilderment on his face. He was leaning against the door trying to catch his breath. He had clearly just run throughout the Tower trying to find them.

"There the two of you are!" Jowan managed to squeak out between his heavy breaths. "Where have you been?"

Katrien caught Anders gaze quickly before turning back to their friend.

"Studying." She replied, automatically. She could almost feel the smile on Anders' face at that.

Jowan's face twisted in confusion, it was obvious that he didn't believe her, but he didn't voice his thoughts. Instead, he continued on as if she hadn't even responded, "You have to come _see_ this!"

"See what?" Katrien asked, curious even though she knew Anders had done something incredibly stupid. When Jowan turned away to lead them to wherever he'd run from, Katrien reached out for Ander's hand and drug him along with her. If she had to follow Jowan through Kinloch Hold, she wouldn't do so alone.

"It's Mr. Wiggums. Somebody put a spell on him. He can _roar_." Jowan explained, not even looking back as they passed groups of mages and Templars on their way to the library.

"Roar?" Katrien asked, throwing a questioning glance at Anders who walked beside her.

All he did was shrug.

Jowan, not realizing the question wasn't intended for him, responded anyway. "Yes. Like a lion?"

"I know what a roar is, Jowan."

A crowd was gathered in the library when they finally arrived. Apprentices, Harrowed mages and Templars all stood in a circle around a small table. Because of her height, elves were always shorter than their human counterparts, she couldn't see over the shoulders of those in front of her. Before she could ask for a boost, another mage joined their entourage.

Leaning towards her and Anders, the dark skinned human whispered, "Who did it this time?"

Katrien allowed her light eyes to slant in Malik Amell's direction. _He_ was the reason Anders got into so much trouble. The two of them wreaked havoc on the best days and plotted to run away on the worst. Mal was the reason Anders felt brave enough to do some of the things he did. Mostly because Mal did them too.

"We didn't." She assured him, making sure she had his dark brown eyes locked on hers as she spoke. He must have caught the thinly veiled threat there because all he did was nod once. Then he turned to look at the crowd.

"Is Greagoir angry?" Anders asked quietly, not wanting to draw attention to his question.

Mal smirked over at his friend. "Nah. He realizes the cat isn't an _actual_ threat. He'll forget about it by morning."

Anders appeared relieved. Katrien wasn't surprised that he was worried. He usually did things before thinking about the consequences beforehand. Feeling her eyes on him, Anders glanced down at her.

"Want a boost?" He asked, his voice barely hiding his amusement at the frown she shot at him.

"Did you have to _ask_?" She countered, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Yes, it made her look like a petulant child, but Andraste's tits, he didn't need to be so _smug_.

Anders, chuckling under his breath, bent at the knees and offered his back to her. "My lady?"

Curbing the urge to kick his knee out from under him, Katrien shoved away her pride and jumped onto his back. Anders caught her like he always did and shifted her so that her legs wrapped around his waist. Her arms came around his neck and at this height, she could see over the heads of the people in front of them. Her eyes caught sight of the Tower's resident mouser, Mr. Wiggums, an orange tabby cat with a fluffy tail, sitting upon the wooden table where the apprentices studied at.

The cat's yellow gaze swept the room as if the crowd didn't even exist. Then it opened it's mouth to meow.

And it _roared_.

A full roar that you would have never expected to hear come from the ten pound cat.

Jowan hadn't been exaggerating.

Anders burst into laughter with the rest of the crowd. Feeling his body shake with his laughs, Katrien couldn't help but smile. Even if the Templars knew Anders had done this, it was _worth_ it. For a few moments, everyone forgot who they were, _where_they were and enjoyed the small amusement the roaring cat gave them. It was a beautiful sight.

Leaning down so she could whisper in Anders' ear, the smile obvious in her voice, Katrien said, "I am Wiggums. Hear me roar."

A new round of laughs burst from his chest.

_Yes_, Katrien thought to herself as she buried her face in his shoulder to stifle her own laughs. _This was worth it._


End file.
